"Monday: Amusing Misfortunes"


Well, it's Monday night already, and that means only a few days until the theatre production, "Wish You Were Here" goes up. Only two more rehearsals before a Thursday night opening.

Today, I decided to take some time in the afternoon and head out to a nearby mall to pick up some slacks (which would be used for the show,... but quite useful beyond that as well), and perhaps to do a little 'people watching' to get a few more character ideas too. Unfortunately, things didn't quite work out as smoothly as planned. I ended up getting caught up in projects in my apartment a little longer than expected, and then missed my bus out there. That particular bus route runs every half hour, so I decided to stand around and wait.

I stood at the bus stop running over some vocal excercises for my characters (and singing to myself as I seem to have the habit of doing.). I'm sure I got a few glances from passers by, which ended up being an amusing situation in and of itself. Seeing some guy walking back and forth on a steet corner (with different physicalities from time to time), singing and talking aloud, probably isn't something the normal person does while they wait for a bus to arrive. And I'm sure it was also something the normal person doesn't see very often. But, hey, I'm an actor, I'm supposed to look wierd, right? Whether I was rehearsing anything or not, it's just part of the job. :)

I did catch the next bus out, and arrived at the mall without further "wierdness", but I had just over an hour to take care of anything before I had to catch a bus back to my neighborhood. As a result, I ruled out even trying to get in some people-watching. That left finding and buying the appropriate slacks I was looking for, as well as dinner in the food court. Unfortunately, I foolishly ended up shopping in the wrong store (I wanted to use a specific store credit card). Realizing this in the fitting room, and seeing that I had just wasted my time looking in the wrong place, I had to nix buying the slacks as well and just head over for dinner.

By the time dinner was finished (which incidently hit the spot for what I was craving), I headed back to catch my bus. Unfortunately, I got there just after it pulled away from the mall bus stop. I missed this one too. That meant waiting another half hour, and being late to rehearsal.

I was entertained though as I stood awaiting the arrival of the next appropriate bus. There was a group of four young 'streetwise' African American boys hanging out, apparently waiting for the same bus I was. Three of them had the fare they needed, while the fourth did not. As a result, I chuckled as he went around melodramatically asking everyone that passed by if they had a dollar to spare. None of them did (or cared to help the kid), and I didn't have any to spare change either, so I ended up watching the scene play out for the half hour that I waited.

It was very amusing too. When the bus did come, I, as well as the three kids got onto the bus, while the fourth did not. He did end up finding a dollar somewhere after the bus pulled away, and ran all the way across the mall gounds to catch it at the last possible moment though, so he did make it in time in the end. But it made for a very amusing scenario and dulled my foolishness at my own personal misfortunes. :)

When I eventually made it back to the theatre, I was half an hour late. Thankfully, the play had been able to rehearse without me, though I was informed of some rather humorous concerns regarding my tardiness when I arrived. I felt bad; I'm usually not late like that, but this time I had to rely on the bus after foolishly miscalculating it's schedule. In the end, rehearsal actually only lasted half an hour for me.

All that trouble, just to make it to a half an hour rehearsal. Yeah, I know, I'm pathetic. .... [lol].

But, it was a worthwhile half hour. I tried a few character/voice things, some which I liked in performance, and some which I hastily discarded. After rehearsal my friend (and co-star) Jen surprised me with an unexpected belated birthday card. And, to top that off, I ran into a student friend of mine, Shelly, whom I have not seen in a very long while. So, everything worked out relatively well in the end.... even if God had a chuckle at my amusing misfourtunes of the day. He does have a sense of humor afterall. :)

Tomarrow, I'm going to try another mall excursion, only this time, I'm going to plan it better. We'll see what happens.

Until then, take care, and have a blessed Tuesday.

Your happily blogging and always amused friend,
-Jon
posted by Jon at 11:14 PM  I   I  0 comments